Last week Marty came home from picking up our King Dairy milk order for the business from one of our wholesale customers, The Market Wagon. He told me that Steve, the owner of The Market Wagon, wanted me to try a bottle of lemonade from King Dairy.
Steve and I are both big lemon fans, it wasn’t tart enough for him, but he thought I would like it. King Dairy puts oranges in their lemonade which may have been why it wasn’t tart enough for Steve.
Steve was wrong about me liking it; I loved it! It had such a familiar taste to me that I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Marty watched me drink the lemonade and told me there were oranges in it. Ah! That was it! It was like I jumped into a time capsule and went back to when I was 5 or 6 years old.
My parents grew up in the Peterstown section of Elizabeth, NJ. I’ve written about Peterstown before writing about my favorite Italian restaurant Spiritos and their delicious ravioli.
My father used to take me back to his childhood stomping grounds in Peterstown. My dad loved his sweets. He thought you should you should always eat dessert first. He would always check out the cakes and pies spinning around in the carousel in the front of the diner; he was gauging how much to order so he could save room for dessert. 😂
Strangely enough, my dad wasn’t an ice cream guy, but he loved Italian ice. He used to take me to an Italian ice stand in his old neighborhood called Caterina’s. Italian born and raised Caterina Di Cosmos version of granita.
My memories of Caterina’s was that it was a shack. An old Italian woman with black shoes sat on a chair and scooped her Italian ice into small paper cups.
There were only two flavors lemon and orange. My dad loved lemon and I loved orange. My dad loved coming here as a kid, we always ran into guys that he knew. They spoke a few words of neighborhood Italian to each other, everyone was Italian.
We would find a parking spot and walked to Caterina’s. We stood on line waiting our turn.
I thought the Italian ices were in garbage cans when I was a kid, but after some research and the photo I found, I think they were wooden barrels. The photo above is EXACTLY how I remember it. Her husband Giovanni built the shack right next to their house for her and her Italian ice business.
After Caterina scooped our ices and my dad paid, we went to find a spot to eat our Italian Ice. Sometimes we sat on the curb or someone’s stoop. Many times we stood leaning against our car. The Italian ice was soft without any hard ice crystals; it was perfect.
My dad ate his fast; I methodically ate mine. I remember as I made my way through the cup of ice, taking a lick then squeezing the paper cup, pushing the ice up, making the cup skinnier and skinnier. The Italian ice had lemon and orange pits in it. My dad and I would see how far we could spit them. My dad never told me not to “play with my food” I could eat the Italian Ice however I wanted. 🙂
My favorite part was at the end, drinking the orange juice that melted in the bottom of the cup. My hands never got sticky, just very cold.
Today, I went online and found Caterina’s, which is now called Di Cosmos Italian Ice, in Peterstown since 1915. I read Di Cosmo’s history and how they are still in business in the same spot. The family still owns the business, which has been upgraded from the one I remember. The stand is located right next to the Di Cosmos home. Many generations have lived in Caterina & Giovanni’s home and carried on Caterina’s tradition.
I saw they celebrated their 100th anniversary back in 2015 and that they opened a second location. They still use the same recipe as the one I loved. They have added a couple more flavors; still, all-natural fruits are used and processed by hand. I’m guessing they don’t have anything like a bubblegum flavor like other Italian ice manufacturers. Thank goodness, poor Caterina would probably turn over in her grave.
Isn’t it funny that one sip can transport someone back to a wonderful childhood memory? I wrote a whole blog post a few months back about my food memories; I never thought that a sip of lemonade would have the same time capsule effect.
I cherish the memories I have with my dad and our food adventures. The next time I see Steve at the Market Wagon, I will share my memory with him and thank him for the lemonade.
Great memories. I haven’t had an Italian Ice forever. I remember eating them as a kid. I loved the lemon.
oh I so miss Ralph’s Italian Ices from NYC. Was never into ices growing up, but when we discovered Ralph’s it was always the nicest treat. It would even be fun waiting in line to be served. Lemon was a favorite.